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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 3, 2022 at 10:41am

No convincing scientific evidence that hangover cures work, according to new research

A new systematic review has found only very low-quality evidence that substances claiming to treat or prevent alcohol-induced hangover work.

The researchers call for more rigorous scientific exploration of the effectiveness of these remedies for hangovers to provide practitioners and the public with accurate evidence-based information on which to make their decisions.

A team of researchers  conducted a systematic review to consolidate and assess the current evidence for hangover treatments.

The study, published recently by the scientific journal Addiction, assessed 21 placebo-controlled randomized trials of clove extract, red ginseng, Korean pear juice, and other hangover cures. Although some studies showed statistically significant improvements in hangover symptoms, all evidence was of very low quality, usually because of methodological limitations or imprecise measurements. In addition, no two studies reported on the same hangover remedy and no results have been independently replicated.

Of the 21 included studies, eight were conducted exclusively with male participants. The studies were generally limited in their reporting of the nature and timing of alcohol challenge that was used to assess the hangover cures and there were considerable differences in the type of alcohol given and whether it was given alongside food.

Common painkillers such as paracetamol or aspirin have not been evaluated in placebo controlled randomized controlled trials for hangover

According to the researchers, future studies should be more rigorous in their methods, for example by using validated scales to assess hangover symptoms. There is also a need to improve the participation of women in hangover research.

The hangover cures assessed in this study included Curcumin, Duolac ProAP4 (probiotics), L-cysteine, N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine (NAC), Rapid Recovery (L-cysteine, thiamine, pyridoxine and ascorbic acid), Loxoprofen (loxoprofen sodium), SJP-001 (naproxen and fexofenadine), Phyllpro (Phyllanthus amarus), Clovinol (extract of clove buds), Hovenia dulcis Thunb. fruit extract (HDE), Polysaccharide rich extract of Acanthopanax (PEA), Red Ginseng, Korean Pear Juice, L-ornithine, Prickly Pear, Artichoke extract, 'Morning-Fit' (dried yeast, thiamine nitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, and riboflavin), Propranolol, Tolfenamic acid, Chlormethiazole, and Pyritinol.

Emmert Roberts et al, The efficacy and tolerability of pharmacologically active interventions for alcohol‐induced hangover symptomatology: A systematic review of the evidence from randomised placebo‐controlled trials, Addiction (2022). DOI: 10.1111/add.15786

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-01-convincing-scientific-eviden...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 3, 2022 at 10:30am

The new findings join a growing body of work that may eventually lay the groundwork for future pharmaceutical interventions to help the vast majority of HIV patients eliminate the virus based on principles scientists are learning from elite controllers, people who have achieved so-called "sterilizing cures."

"Increasing evidence suggests that durable drug-free control of HIV-1 replication is enabled by effective cellular immune responses. Data from their experimental work suggest that viable human immunodeficiency viruses in elite controllers may face greater pressure from immune system cells. As a result, the viruses are unable to dodge the immune system's formidable army.

 Xiaodong Lian, et al, Signatures of immune selection in intact and defective proviruses distinguish HIV-1 elite controllers, Science Translational Medicine (2021) DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abl4097

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-12-hiv-patients-unique-biology-...

Part 2

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 3, 2022 at 10:28am

HIV patients 'cured' by their own unique biology may harbor secrets to end the global scourge

Some people diagnosed with HIV are able to eradicate the virus without antiretroviral medications or even stem cell transplants, possessing the ability to naturally suppress the virus and achieve a medically verifiable cure.

Scientists call this small population elite controllers, a moniker that reflects their unique ability to keep one of the most notorious viruses at bay.

Two of these patients have garnered fame in the scientific literature in recent months, each known mostly by a code name: the San Francisco Patient, and another called the Esperanza Patient. Both are women who have been spotlighted in medical journals and at scientific conferences for having eradicated HIV from their bodies.

Beyond those two celebrated examples, new research from the Ragon Institute in Boston has zeroed in on a larger group of elite controllers—58 altogether—who have also been able to keep the virus at bay by virtue of their distinct biological capabilities. The elite controllers were compared with 42 HIV patients on antiretroviral therapy, people who represent the vast majority of those diagnosed globally with HIV.

Writing in Science Translational Medicine, immunologists at the institute report that they have uncovered a deep well of new clues that point to elite controllers' unusual ability to eradicate the virus. One reason is a powerful immune response, but another centers on where latent viral genetic sequences are stranded in the human genome. These sequences tend to be in tucked into chromosomes in remote regions where they're less likely to replicate, but more likely to be found by immune forces.

The research is opening a new window of understanding into what it means to be infected with HIV, a virus that is estimated to affect 38 million people globally. Millions worldwide have died since the HIV pandemic began 40 years ago.

Most patients take antiretroviral drugs for life to hold the virus in check, but elite controllers can handily subdue HIV for long periods without the need for medications. Although the San Francisco Patient was infected in 1992, she has kept the virus at bay for decades. Her existence—and that of other elite controllers—defies the long-held dogma that HIV infection is invariably for life.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 2, 2022 at 10:54am

2021's Breakthroughs in Neuroscience and Other Biology

2021's Biggest Breakthroughs in Physics

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 1, 2022 at 9:10am

Science’s 2021 Breakthrough of the Year: AI brings protein structures to all

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on December 31, 2021 at 9:26am

A Novel Approach to Target Enhancer-Addicted Cancers

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on December 31, 2021 at 9:10am

India saw record 126 tiger deaths in 2021

India's tiger conservation body said 126 of the endangered big cats died in 2021, the most since it began compiling data a decade ago.

It is believed there were around 40,000 tigers at the time of independence in 1947 but hunting and habitat loss has slashed the population to dangerously low levels.

In 2010, India and 12 other countries signed an agreement to double tiger numbers by 2022.

Over the past decade the biggest reason for deaths recorded by the NTCA was "natural causes", but many also fell victim to poachers and "human-animal conflict".

Human encroachment on tiger habitats has increased in recent decades in the country of 1.3 billion people. This caused human deaths too deaths due to human-animal conflict and were driven by "the fragmentation of the tiger's natural habitat." Tigers range over large jungle areas and find it impossible to migrate to other forests without crossing human habitations, increasing chances of conflict. Critics also say that the government has also loosened environmental regulations for projects including mining.

Increasing demand for tiger skins and use of tiger body parts in traditional Chinese medicine were some of the major reasons for poaching.

The government has made efforts to manage the tiger population better, however, reserving 50 habitats across the country for the animals. But tigers were still under threat from poaching and habitat destruction and the wild animal populations had fragmented, increasing the risk of inbreeding.

Many tiger populations were confined to small protected areas.

Many of the "habitat corridors" enabling the animals to roam between these areas were at risk due to human activity and development. 

https://phys.org/news/2021-12-india-tiger-deaths.html?utm_source=nw...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on December 31, 2021 at 9:02am

 Lab experiments show how cells 'eat'

A new study shows how cell membranes curve to create the "mouths" that allow the cells to consume things that surround them.

The study found that the intercellular machinery of a cell assembles into a highly curved basket-like structure that eventually grows into a closed cage. Membrane curvature is important: It controls the formation of the pockets that carry substances into and out of a cell.

The pockets capture substances around the cell, forming around the extracellular substances, before turning into vesicles—small sacs one-one millionth the size of a red blood cell. Vesicles carry important things for a cell's health—proteins, for example—into the cell. But they can also be hijacked by pathogens that can infect cells.

But the question of how those pockets formed from membranes that were previously believed to be flat had stymied researchers for nearly 40 years. Scientists now were able to use super-resolution fluorescence imaging to actually watch these pockets form within live cells, and so they could answer that question of how they are created.

Experiments revealed that protein scaffolds start deforming the underlying membrane as soon as they are recruited to the sites of vesicle formation. The way cells consume and expel vesicles plays a key role for living organisms. The process helps clear bad cholesterol from blood; it also transmits neural signals. The process is known to break down in several diseases, including cancer and Alzheimer's disease.

Understanding the origin and dynamics of membrane-bound vesicles is important—they can be utilized for delivering drugs for medicinal purposes, but at the same time, hijacked by pathogens such as viruses to enter and infect cells. These results matter, not only for our understanding of the fundamentals of life, but also for developing better therapeutic strategies.

 Nathan M. Willy et al, De novo endocytic clathrin coats develop curvature at early stages of their formation, Developmental Cell (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2021.10.019

https://phys.org/news/2021-12-high-resolution-lab-cells.html?utm_so...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on December 30, 2021 at 9:16am

Universal COVID test based on isothermal amplification can detect all COVID-19 variants

Russian researchers have developed a strategy to create a cheap and rapid COVID-19 test based on isothermal amplification. According to their publication in Applied Biochemistry and Microbiology, use of this strategy will make it possible to create universal test systems for any of the COVID-19 variants.

The Russian researchers developed a strategy that will help overcome earlier drawbacks and give healthcare professionals an opportunity to use LAMP testing to detect traces of any COVID variants in samples of mucus and blood without preliminary processing in a laboratory. This will decrease the cost of COVID-19 tests considerably and speed up the process, since no specially trained professionals or expensive equipment will be needed.

The virus mutates quite fast, and the test systems that were created a year ago may be not as effective as they used to be. Researchers now analyze the mutations and are looking for the most stable parts of the virus genome. This will help create test systems that recognize all the existing variants and, importantly, the new variants that are appearing.

To solve this challenge, HSE biologists are looking for parts of the coronavirus genome that do not change much over time. They will serve as markers that bacteria ferments will use to convert the COVID RNA into DNA and multiply it further. Combined with the existing LAMP system components, they will help create a universal COVID-19 testing system, which will be able to quickly detect traces of any COVID variants, the researchers say.

J. A. Makarova et al, Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification as a Promising Method for Mass COVID-19 Diagnostics, Applied Biochemistry and Microbiology (2021). DOI: 10.1134/S0003683821080032

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-12-universal-covid-based-isothe...

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on December 29, 2021 at 11:20am

Ubiquitin and Parkinson's Disease 

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